Statement from Dish Network on Young Broadcasting Removal

[Scott Greczkowski]

(Note from Scott... Dish was forced to drop about 10 Young Broadcast stations from its lineup tonight, the press release below is just for one of the 10 removed, however instead of posting each press release for each station I will just post it once. )

YOUNG BROADCASTING, INC. FORCES DISH NETWORK® TO REMOVE ITS
ALBANY, N.Y. ABC CHANNEL FROM ITS LINEUP

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. – Dec. 11, 2008 – DISH Network Corporation (Nasdaq: DISH) today announced that it has been forced to remove WTEN (ABC) Ch. 10 from its programming lineup in Albany, N.Y.

Young Broadcasting, Inc. is demanding unreasonable contract terms and an excessive rate increase for continued carriage on DISH Network – an increase that DISH Network is unwilling to pass on to customers. To protect customers from unreasonable rate increases and to ensure they pay only a fair amount every month, DISH Network draws the line at such excess and challenges strong-arm tactics. In the last few years, DISH Network has negotiated for retransmission consent with nearly 1,000 other local TV stations and has reached a fair agreement with all of them.

“It is unfortunate that Young Broadcasting has forced us into this situation and caused this disruption to our customers,” said Eric Sahl, senior vice president of Programming for DISH Network. “Our goal is to remain the best value for our customers and in order to do this, we need fair contracts with competitive pricing for the channels our customers want to watch. This is why we refuse to accept Young Broadcasting’s unreasonable terms.”

DISH Network’s contract with Young Broadcasting expired on Dec. 10, 2008. The absence of a contract means that DISH Network is no longer able to provide WTEN to its subscribers.

As programming fees comprise a significant percentage of DISH Network’s expenses, Young Broadcasting’s demands would translate into a significant cost increase that DISH Network would have to pass along to its customers in the form of higher monthly bills.

“We deeply regret the inconvenience this disruption may cause any of our subscribers,” Sahl added. “Subscribers should rest assured that we continue to take the necessary steps to ensure that DISH Network remains the source for the best quality TV at the best total value.”

DISH Network encourages subscribers to visit Fair Satellite for more information.

 

[ab187]

I'm With Dish

I'm with Dish on this one, Young Broadcasting is getting to greedy.
I hope Dish holds out for a fair contract so they make it clear that this is unacceptable.

 

[tawhite]

This crap is getting old, real old! We had the same deal with another local within the last 6m to a year. The only common denominator is Dish!

 

[HDRoberts]

One last hurrah for Eric Sahl, I guess.

It would be nice if Dish said what kind of increase they were looking for. It seems from Young's infor, the are looking for around $0.30/month/sub.

I've only had Dish for 3 years total, but I've never seem them have any trouble with Cleveland stations.

 

[navychop]

Per "what" subs? Surely not all Dish subs. But maybe all subs that pay for LiL that includes their station? Or that number of subs multiplied by what Nielsen says is their share of the market? Bet they're trying to max their take by stretching the count. A penny a day sounds so reasonable, until you look closely.

 

[Rangers484]

I say Dish pays per subscriber for retransmission rights and the local station pays Dish for the percentage increase in ad revenue that the extra subscribers generates.

 

[belawrence]

This crap is getting old, real old! We had the same deal with another local within the last 6m to a year. The only common denominator is Dish!

Time Warner is also known for having these problems also it seems. I remember the local ABC affiliate in LA being turned off TWC and I believe this past month they had a dispute with some LIN owned stations that resulted in their temporary shutoff.

 

[SatinKzo]

one thing I don't miss with dish is these "contract disputes". Dish continues to use their form letter "unreasonable rate increases".

 

[jayn_j]

As I've said in earlier threads, look at the numbers. Dish generally pays about $.20/month/channel/lil subscriber. With 4 networks being carried, that's $.80/mo/lil subscriber.

A .30/channel represents a 50% increase. Figure if DISH caved, the other stations would follow suit. IF the negotiated rate was for people actually subscribing to the LIL package, DISH would now be paying $1.20 in royalties. They are only charging $5/mo for locals and they need to pay expenses for uplink, transponder space, the tech that monitors the channel at the uplink center and the tech that handles the head end in the lil city.

I would bet they are barely breaking even on LiL as it stands, and a $.40/mo/subscriber is a significant expense. It becomes worse if Navychop's scenario is considered and Young is demanding $.30/mo for every dish subscriber in a Young Broadcasting zipcode, regardless if the subscriber chooses LiL.

One other factor. Is Young asking $.30 for the SD and another $.30 for the HD channel where applicable?

 

[drdroo]

Time Warner is also known for having these problems also it seems. I remember the local ABC affiliate in LA being turned off TWC and I believe this past month they had a dispute with some LIN owned stations that resulted in their temporary shutoff.

I believe that TW still has this problem here when it comes to the HD signal of our local CBS station. They had that problem as soon as they acquired the former Adelphia market. That was a few years ago.....

I'm not sure if Dish has locals that were taken off the air measured in years, but I have to assume you get to a point where you just say 'it ain't comin back anytime soon'..

 

[space86]

Is this why E* does not carry Fox Business Network because they won't
to much per sub?

 

[drdroo]

Is this why E* does not carry Fox Business Network because they won't
to much per sub?

I believe that's the claim. News Corp owned D* at one point too so who knows what the deal was there. I think whatever tiff they have is connected with why we don't have FBN, FNC HD, FX HD, etc. I think I read that somewhere here actually.

 

[Claude Greiner]

YAWN

Give it a few days and the stations will be back on the Air....

All it is right now is a big pissing match, the station is blaming DISH Network and DISH Network is blaming the station. I just love it how DISH Network always has to take it to the last minute of the last hour on these negotiations and always has to end up pulling the station for a few days before they can get to a resolution and kiss and make up like nothing happened.

 

[jbleser]

I think this is going to be common in the future. Not with just E* but with D* and cable companies like TW as well. Just went through this crap with TW and LIN TV which carries our local FOX. It will be a pissing match like mentioned earlier. My guess will be 7 to 14 days before it is back up on E*

 

[Derwin0]

Congress and/or the FCC need to step in and setup up a standard compensation rate for Locals, the same as they do for Distances and Supers, in order to end this nonsense.

 

[cincyguy2k4]

Congress is not the answer on this one. Congress already has its hands full going bankrupt and printing monopoly money for bailouts. Maybe a regulation to force negotiations to start at a resonable time but I dont agree on forcing a certian price in this situation.

This is not a monopoly. People can switch to a provider or buy an antenna to get the station just as easy.

Im in the same boat for Cincy HD. Our local 12 has been playing hardball with Dish for quite some time and it does not look like thats going to end anytime soon.

 

[yourbeliefs]

Maybe this is what us D* subscribers pay that extra money for: "Guaranteed" channels.

 

[JNEUBY]

I agree, they need to keep our dictatorship (formerly democratic) government out of it. My opinion is E* has to stand their ground. If they give in and the rest of the broadcasters see they can get more $$ then all of them will force E*'s hand. And of course, all the higher costs to re-broadcast are pass thru to us.

 

[GRExpert]

I agree with Dish. This is a money grab by the locals. They broadcast their signal for free

 

[drdroo]

The difference here is that we're talking about the public airwaves and redistribution of a signal being transmitted on it, in the clear, for free. If they don't redistribute outside of the DMA, I don't see why sat or cable carriers should have to pay a dime. The FCC really would the the folks to make the rules on this.

Of course, if the FCC forced these broadcasters to actually serve the majority of the DMA with their terrestrial signal, this would also be a non-issue. I'm sure there's plenty of stories where the signal doesn't cover a person yet the person is told to f-off when they try to get a waiver.